Hey, everyone,Capone in Chicago here. I'm going to try something that I've never done before--start up a sort of column (weekly, if it seems appropriate in terms of the week's releases) that pulls together the smaller films making their way across the nation, in some cases theater by theater. I got out of my way to catch these films because, frankly, they need an advocate on sites like this one that tend to cater to larger, splashier works. But the truth is that from year to year, some of the best films I see are ones that only play at on one screen at one theater, and often they only stay in town a week or two. Let's give this a shot and see what happens, and I picked a good week to formalize this, because I have three offerings, all of which are varying degrees of very good. Enjoy…



SITA SINGS THE BLUES
One of the sheer joys and true discoveries for me at Ebertfest last weekend was director Nina Paley's magnificently celebratory animated work SITA SINGS THE BLUES, a film that has been making the festival circuit for a while now. But the best things about it is that you can watch the whole movie... for free... right now... LEGALLY! More on that later.

Sita is several different but thematically similar stories of devotion, heartbreak and rejuvenation. But the real fun of the film is Paley's blending of different animation styles, use of era-inappropriate music, and her undeniable sense of humor in the face of suffering. Now, I'm going to try to explain a little of the story(ies), and then you're going to go see the film anyway. Paley actually recommends seeing the film as a 35mm print because the sound mix is far more dynamic, but honestly, she doesn't care how you watch it as long as you watch it and tell your friends to watch it too. Go to thirteen.org, and you can either stream it or download it. It's well worth it. Back to the movie...

Part of the film focuses on the retelling of Paley's own emotional journey with her now-ex-husband. The young and passionate couple lived in San Francisco until he gets a job that takes him to India for six months. She stays behind, absolutely heartbroken, awaiting his return. When his contract is extended for an addition year, he suggests that she move to India, but by this time, he has grown distant, and when she returns to the states briefly, he tells her in an email not to come back. Ouch! Paley's story is cleverly interwoven with shadow-puppet narrators telling the ancient Indian tale of Ramayana and a devoted woman named Sita (animated with curves that would have made Russ Meyer proud). The shadow puppets are a riot, since their voices are clearly those of three Indian-Americans attempting to remember the details of this famous story, often getting the details wrong and constantly correcting each other. Paley simply captures a three-way conversation, and turned it into a comedic history lesson. Not surprisingly, the tale itself is also animated in an ancient Indian style featuring fierce demons and spirits, human characters with blue skin, and lovely women who value purity over all other things.

But the most extraordinary thing that Paley accomplishes are musical interludes featuring Sita singing about her love, pain and devotion. But rather than fill the theater with sitars, cymbals, and looping voices, the voice that comes out of Sita (animated using Flash for these segments) is that of 1920s singing legend Annette Hanshaw. You may not know who Hanshaw is or what her voice sounds like, but I guarantee after seeing Sita Sings the Blues, you'll want to own her recordings (good luck finding them; her masters were destroyed decades ago and the only record of her work are surviving 78s in the hands of record collectors around the world). This mixing of jazz-era songs and Paley's stunning visual style might sound odd in theory, but the end result is magnificent and perfectly stunning.

As radical as Paley's distribution methods may seem (you can actually download a file of the movie so large that it can be transferred to 35mm--assuming you have the money to do so), her film relies on the most basic of premises. She never forgets to be inventive and wildly entertaining. Paley's designs for the human characters are often as demented as some of her creature creations. And the film's creative visuals will have you watching, mouth agape, as you allow wave after wave of awe-inspiring beauty to flow into your eager eyes. There are few things in the film world right now--maybe ever--as much fun and fantastic as SITA SINGS THE BLUES.




LYMELIFE
I may not make any friend on Long Island with this review, but I really don't give a shit. But I am truly sick and tired of people who grew up on Long Island--working class or filthy rich--trying to convince me with their films that their lives, no matter what their station in life, were so much deeper and more miserable than the rest of us. And I say this as a fan of many of the films made featuring messed up or otherwise dysfunctional characters whose only source of trouble turns out to be growing up on Long Island. Their daddies were distant or drunks or cheating on mom; moms were self-medicating lunatics would could never get enough tension or material goods. Again, there are plenty of good or great films that are birthed from the land that's not quite New York City, but has twice as many neurotics as the Big Apple, but I'm tired of them. Or at least I will be after LYMELIFE finishes its run in theatre because it's pretty darned good, so my future boycott on this micro-genre will be put on hold for a bit longer.

LYMELIFE is about a late-'70s clan with overprotective (possibly nutzo) mom (Jill Hennessy); overworking, horny, cheating dad (Alec Baldwin); older brother in the military (Kieran Culkin); and younger, 15-year-old brother Scott (Rory Culkin), whose loneliness and frustration at his parents' bile-fueled arguments are tearing his brain apart. I've always thought Rory was the best actor of the Culkin bunch, and this is the best work I've ever seen him do. Kieran is no slouch either, and he pulls off a remarkable, alternating combination of sweet and vicious during the course of this film that actually made me see him as a strong adult actor for the first time. And the brotherly interaction, shockingly enough, feels pretty genuine. A playful smack to the face while driving, the constant ribbing, it all seemed totally authentic.

The family's best friends are a family who are of a lesser status than Baldwin's. Cynthia Nixon play's his co-worker and mistress; a scarily subdued Timothy Hutton is her husband who has been rendered mildly brain damaged thanks to the long-term effects of Lyme disease; and their daughter Adrianna, who is played remarkably well by Emma Roberts, who has been doing pretty much nothing but tween films until now. (Remember NANCY DREW or HOTEL FOR DOGS? Me either.) Here, Roberts performance is a revelation, and I hope she never makes another young adult movie again. Even though her character claims to be a virgin, she's eager not to be and maintains a steady stream of off-color statements about sex and other very adult topics. And because she just turned 18 in February, I can say that she does all of these things while looking extremely cute. (Oh wait, that means she was how old when she filmed this? Never mind!)

The core of LYMELIFE is the friendship and ill-timed attempts at a love match between the younger Culkin and Roberts. It's easy to believe these two as best friends, and a solid couple despite her crushes on bad boys and his overblown jealous behavior. The interactions between the parents are extremely well acted but don't seem as unique and special as the great interplay between the teens. Writer-director Derek Martini never quite reaches the ridiculously awkward levels of suburban angst as Noah Baumbach, but it's pretty damn close, and in many places this film is a lot more believable as a family drama. People yell, cry, publicly embarrass each other, you name it, because you've seen it all before. But because Martini seems to care about his characters so much, that they almost speak for themselves even without much dialogue. LYMELIFE is a stunner to be sure, but a stunner in the right direction. Now if I could just find a way to stop these young filmmakers to stop basing these kinds of stories around people from this relatively small corner of the world, my life would be in a better place today.



THE MERRY GENTLEMAN
I openly and unapologetically love films like this--quiet, contemplative, films that aren't about much more than spending time with fairly interesting people in transitional times. Often films such as these have a sweetness to them that you could, by definition it seems, never find in mainstream productions, if for no other reason than the bigger studio films never take the time to get to know their characters. THE MERRY GENTLEMAN, directed by and co-starring Michael Keaton, begins with Kate (played by the lovely Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald, using her real accent) leaving her abusive husband (Bobby Cannavale) for a city that looks a lot like Chicago. Rather than simply hide from the world, Kate gets an office job and takes small steps at being social with her coworkers. The men in her workplace flirt with her a bit, but she keeps them at a distance, deciding for the time being to only befriend and hang out with a female officemate.

One night leaving the office, Kate looks up and sees a man standing on the ledge of the building across the street. Just as it appears he's about to jump, she screams and he falls backwards onto the roof of the building and out of sight. The man was actually Keaton's Frank Logan, a professional hitman who has just killed a man and is feeling suicidal. Because Kate never gets a good look at the guy, she's not much help to the cops in solving the murder or in identifying the potential jumper. Frank deliberately plants himself outside Kate's apartment to see if she recognizes him, and instead ends up helping her lug her Christmas tree up to her unit. The two form an unlikely friendship, perhaps built upon a shared sense of being at the end of their respective ropes but deciding to give life one more shot. Frank is a bit of a brooder, but it's his strength and protective nature that appeal to Kate, especially when her husband finds her. He claims he's discovered Jesus and wants to get back together to start a new life. She wants none of it; Frank takes her cue. One of the most interesting relationships in the film is between Kate and the cop investigating the hit. They go on one particularly awkward date that sours things quickly, but their interactions don't stop there.

Even if you don't like THE MERRY GENTLEMAN, there's no denying that it's a stark and beautiful work. Each shot is carefully constructed to the point where you could freeze the movie at any point and frame the image on the wall. I found myself mesmerized at times just watching how lovely each scene is. But I also got lost in the quiet desperation of Kate and Frank, neither of whom go through massive transformations during the course of their time together. Instead they draw just enough courage and spirit from each other to keep moving forward. Whether the two end up together isn't especially important; what matters is that they become better, more fortified people as a result of their time together. I can believe that far easier than a whirlwind romance or some such nonsense. I know there is supposed to be some level of suspense generated from not knowing if Frank is going to kill this witness to his crime, but I never relied on that to propel the movie forward. It doesn't seem nearly as important as giving these characters room to breathe and grow. There's a dignity to THE MERRY GENTLEMAN that won me over, and I think you'll find it inspiring.

-- Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com